HistoryThe Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation (MWPF) was founded in 1998 with the purpose of supporting the conservation of the cultural heritage belonging to the offices of the United Nations and its agencies.

Through time, from the era of the League of Nations onwards, the United Nations were given precious gifts and donations. It is the general rule that the donator takes care of the gift and keeps the responsibility for its preservation.

However, certain objects are 'orphans', in the sense that none of the Member States or other organisations carry the responsibility for professional maintenance.

Several reasons can cause this situation to happen, as is the case with Paul Manship's Celestial Sphere, the donator of which, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in the United States, was dissolved in the fifties of the twentieth' century.

By its nature, the United Nations cannot raise funds for purposes beyond its statutory objectives. It cannot call on direct sponsorship and the UN can accept donations only within certain limits. As the United Nations has in fact no budget for the conservation of this part of its cultural heritage, other solutions are being sought after.

Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation (MWPF) is a good example of such a solution: after extensive judicial brain-storming a formula was found which the UN could approve of and which enabled MWPF to start off under the UN's mandate.